On his work coloring "Watchmen" and how he feels about it in the context of his career: I think I'm very lucky in a number of different ways, because for about 20-odd years, I felt it was a bit of a cul-de-sac, a bit of a dead end. I'm not a colorist per se. I started out as a painter color-artist. I was just very, very fortunate. I didn't realize until the Absolute Edition came out in 2005 how fortunate I was. That 25 years, I didn't get paid anything extra for being associated with the "Watchmen." I was very fortunate that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons really supported me right off and really wanted me to be a fully functioning member -- not only financially, but also to give ideas, color ideas and so on, to the book. So, I never felt anything other than complete collaborator to two greats: Alan and Dave. But to a certain extent, I felt directed in a cul-de-sac, a circuitous route. I was coming after DC and Marvel and I remember once going into Marvel in the late '80s and early '90s. I went into the bar and I got a round of applause when I was introduced as John Higgins, the colorist, but nobody cared about John Higgins the penciler or the inker. So I didn't want to do any more coloring because, as you say, what more can you do once you've done the "Watchmen?"

On how "Razorjack came about as a personal response to working on "Watchmen"": "Razorjack" basically was going back to the "Watchmen" -- the frustration of being racketed as just a colorist and not as an artist all around. I decided I needed to do all aspects of what I want to do. Working with Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, all those writers, I did a lot of stuff for "Hellblazer," DC/Vertigo and so on. They had a way of telling a story that I wanted to try and expand on in my own perspective. "Razorjack" is the worst nightmare I could possibly ever have and I want to give it to you to read to see how you accept it. The thing I want to do is show stuff that, to a certain extent, is outside mainstream comics. Obviously, if you're an independent, you can do anything you want. I have no problems working with the larger companies with whatever limitations they might indicate for certain characters, but the total freedom you have when you're independent and self-publishing is just far beyond anything you could get with a big company.

On what he's learned from coloring different artists: Well, if you go back to the "Watchmen," Dave Gibbons always gave you the opportunity to backlight the characters. He was someone who always allowed you to do side-light, then back-light and front-lighting. He gave you the opportunity to make the color a 360 degree sensibility, so you can show lighting off-panel. That gave you extra depth, because the thing I enjoyed particularly about the "Watchmen" is if you start with the coloring, I would indicate where the character was going next. I would do enough panel color and then he'd walk into that scene after he'd been talking in that panel.